MENIFEE: Unification plans to be amended

Although unifying the Menifee school district as a
kindergarten-through-12th-grade system is still likely years away,
officials are taking steps to make the transition smoother.

Talks have been in the works for more than two decades to add a
high school to the Menifee Union School District, which educates
children in kindergarten through eighth grade.

To complete the move, Paloma Valley High School would be
transferred from the Perris Union High School District into the
Menifee district.

Perris has bought land to build a high school in south Menifee
which, when completed, would become part of the new district, as
well.

The plan for unification was put on hold two years ago because
it did not meet all of the state criteria for completing the
process and because of the sour economy.

Menifee meets six of the nine criteria for unification.

The districts fall short when it comes to, financing, racial
balance and a difference in standardized test scores.

Still, whenever the superintendents of the districts speak of
unification, they say "it's not if, it's when."

The Perris board approved amendments to the unification
agreement Wednesday that will allow that district to refinance
bonds that are part of the deal.

Menifee trustees will vote on the same proposal Tuesday.

"The preunification agreement is in need of some modifications,"
Menifee Union Superintendent Linda Callaway said. "Both districts
have worked very cooperatively and collaboratively on this."

"It actually improves the document we originally did with the
Menifee district," Perris Superintendent Jonathan Greenberg said
during Wednesday's meeting.

Frequent board critic Jackie McDonald, who often expresses
opinions that Menifee is favored over the rest of the district,
questioned the agreement, but Greenberg assured her that both
districts agreed to the changes.

"This gives both districts a little more freedom they need to
educate their children," Greenberg said. "It's not a green light
for unification."

A formal unification agreement was signed in 2007 that laid out
how the property and debt would be divided between the
districts.

The original agreement was made in anticipation of the
unification process being completed in a short time frame. Because
that hasn't happened, the amendments are being considered.

To make unification more feasible, the agreement states that
Perris needs more space to house students.

After transferring Paloma to Menifee, the high school district
would be left with Perris and Heritage high schools, along with
Pinacate Middle School and some alternative schools.

The amended agreement would allow Perris to refinance a bond, a
move that wasn't allowed under the original agreement.

That money then could be used for school expansion or
construction.

Perris must refinance the bond by January, because the bank
backing the bond has said it will not renew its letter of credit,
according to a staff report.

"The amendment meets the needs of both districts, does not alter
the spirit of the intent of the original agreement, and identifies
and adds events that occurred subsequent to 2007," the agreement
states.

If unification is completed, Menifee Union would be dissolved
and a new governing board elected. Perris would replace its board
members who live within Menifee's boundaries.

Today, four of five Perris trustees live in Menifee, but that's
likely to change as the district transitions from at-large
elections to votes by trustee districts next year.